TATIANA'S SECRET

~CHAPTER ONE~

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~MANUEL'S POV~

Manuel Ortiz was close to walking out of his father’s office. The old man set meaningless meetings, only for him to waste their time. Right now, he was seated in the large conference room with his two younger siblings but his father hasn’t spoken a word yet. Instead, he studied them under the rim of his coffee cup, his dark dangerous eyes shifting from one Ortiz to another.

“Father,” His brother called, half irritated. “Is there a reason why you called us?”

There was a long silence that formed a knot in his throat. His brother, Mateo knew better than to question their father. Their father, Ortiz, CEO of ORTIZ corporation was a force they had learned not to contend with. The man was the toughest man he had ever seen.

His father had a small stature with his brown hair pulled into a low bun. Back when he was little, months after his mother had left without taking a look back, his father smacked him with his cane because he had screamed at a bug instead of killing it. He had to admit, it was a scary-looking bug that had scared his fifteen-year-old mind but the beating on the hand was a little too severe now.

Such anger just because I screamed at a bug. He thought to himself.

“Are you saying I was stupid to call you?” His father said, eyes

His younger sister and last born of the family, Martina gave a nervous chuckle. “Nada de esto, Papa. Mateo was just curio-“

“Father. Call me Father. Papa is what they call a weakling of a father and I am not.” Father placed his cup on the table. “Do you hear me?”

Martina faked a smile. Her loose black curls framed her face. “Si. Papa.”

“I called you children here because I had something important to say.” His father looked at him. “It is because of Manuel.”

“Me?” The shake in his voice was obvious.

Mateo leaned forward. “What about Manuel?” 

“He is my first seed. The one ought to take over this company with the help of you two but I must say, his reputation over the past week has been…distasteful.” Father looked disappointed, and very angry, which wasn’t that far from his usual expression, but the intensity was maddening.

“Father, I don’t understand.” Manuel knew what his Father was talking about. It was the talk of the town. Newspapers, everywhere. It was the talk of the city. Everyone talked about it over breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. Twitter and Instagram had even formed a hashtag for him.

Father shook his head. “You do know what I meant. That nasty breakup with that gold-digging woman, you called a girlfriend. Too much juice for the media. Did you have to be so stupid to let it get out of your control?”

“Papa,” Martina called, attracting everyone's eyes. "I mean Father, he was hurt. I don’t think he even had the time to think about the media. Right, brother?”

Manuel didn’t dare take a look at his sister. Why was she acting like this? Father was seated right here. She knew their father didn't take it easy on him but it was only to toughen him. His father was right. When Emily, his girlfriend—ex broke up with him at a public restaurant when he had proposed, he didn't take it lightly as they got into an argument, right there with him on his knees. In a public place where people didn't waste time with their phones.

“Women don’t have the power to hurt,” Father said to Martina. "It is in the nature of a woman to cheat and hurt. That is no excuse for a man to act that way. He is a man. Not a sissy.”